The epic journey continues

Ummm, ok... so that was one of the most epic 24 hours of partying I`ve had in a while. In fact, I still haven´t gotten home yet.

Let´s start from the beginning. I arranged to meet my Italian friend for some partying in Lapa again, and before long we were in the midst of the street celebrations and making new friends. Man, the talent here is ridiculous!! And it´s hot enuf that everyone is shirtless (the men at least) and they are really into keeping themselves looking fit!! haha... And for some insane reason I had the pick. All night I was pulled away by people saying "you are beautiful!!". Craziness... So I basically kept my standards high and when I saw (what I thought) was a super sweet, otherwise never to be touched person, I would make eyes and BOOM. Job done.

The rain - which had meant to clear up for the weekend (and by now it was Saturday night) - was still persisting which at first I was annoying about but then, like the rest of them, I embraced it. I am still scared to put my cowboy boots back on, though... urgh, so wet!!!

With our new group of friends, we went into a club that was rammed - I avoided the door charge luckily by one of the guys paying (phew! It was not cheap) and we danced until it closed. I cheekily snuck off a couple of times to make out with one of the guys who was getting it on with one of the girls in the group... hey, it´s all in good fun, right?!

By this stage I spotted a cute Brazilian girl making eyes at me - wow, her figure - and so that was it. She can´t speak English but that means I am forced to try and understand Portuguese (getting better)... she pulled out some random treats from her big black boots at times, ensuring we were in high spirits until the party all but disappeared from the streets and we were faced with scouring the streets for the last remaining dregs (and getting hassled along the way) or jumping on a bus back to her place.

We had lost her friends by this stage so we jumped on a bus alone, only to do a loop of the city (it seemed) and finally arrive at her place. Well, a walk away from the bus then to her place. It was at this stage I realised I was COMPLETELY lost and would be fucked if I attempted to get back to the city. There were local markets, a big highway above my head and lots of non-tourist people quite obviously wondering what this blue-eyed, tutu-toting white rasta woman was doing in their neighbourhood. Good times.

Her friend - who speaks a little Spanish and very little English - was at la casa when we returned and the party continued. At times a young boy - I think maybe her son - came by to hang out with us and I helped him to speak English and some Spanish. Not that I am any good, mind you!

So... here I am, still at her house, more than 24 hours later, having spent last night on a mattress on the floor in front of the TV where Carnaval was being televised from the Sambodrome. WOW. Those costumes are INCREDIBLE. You just don´t believe!! Our bus has gone past some of the floats heading to the dome earlier in the morning and they were also awesome. But the costumes... oh MAN!!! Glitter galore!! And you know how I am about glitter...

And a quick update... just looked in my wallet and I still have half the money left that I came out of the house with yesterday! How I managed THAT I don´t know... But I am certainly not complaining!!

Now we are up n at´em, I´ve assured my CS friend I am still alive and he sent a cryptic reply about taking one thing for another (hope he´s not mad!!)... I hope to get back to the apartment to get changed at one point before I head back out to the festivities. My friend is already parading around in a cute little dress (schwwwinnggg) so I gotta try to spice things up a little. I think I understood her say there was a party we had to go to, and Catete, where I stay, is before that so we can stop off and change clothes before I go out again. Hope so. I am gross.